Furniture Design Ideas

ANATOMY OF A SHOP-BUILT ROUTER TABLE Table insert (page 37) Made of /*- or %-inch – thick acrylic plastic. Has three holes for mounting router base plate; sits in rabbet in top and fastened to cleats attached to underside of top Table base Made from 2-by-4 stock, featuring four legs, rails, and stretchers; assembled with […]

tion of the more useful ones is illustrated below and on page 37. Some items, like the speed control or remote switch, must be purchased. Others, such as fences or table inserts, can easily be fashioned in the shop for a fraction of the cost of their commercial counter­parts. One advantage of most commer- them […]

The router table does for the router what a saw table accom­plishes for the circular saw blade. It transforms a portable tool into a stationary one—and in the case of the router, enables it to perform tasks that can normally be managed only with an expensive shaper. Mounted upside down and fixed in position, the […]

SHARPENING ROUTER BITS Sharpening a non-piloted router bit Use a benchstone to hone the inside faces of the cutting edges of a high-speed steel bit, like the one shown above. Holding the inside face of one cutting edge flat against the abrasive surface, rub it back and forth. Repeat with the other edge. Hone both […]

There are several characteristics to look for when buying router bits; each of them is shown below and on page 25. As it cuts through wood, a bit should only contact the workpiece with its cutting edges; the body should never touch the wood. As shown in the photo at left, you can check for […]

A router is only as good as the bit it turns. The quality of the cuts you make will depend largely on the quality of the bits you use. Recent developments in bit-making technology have increased the likeli­hood that your bits will begin sharp and stay sharp. And they have expanded the choices available to […]

M y first encounter with timber framing was 13 years ago, when a friend enlist­ed me on raising day to help him erect the frame that he had spent the bet­ter part of the summer carving. It was a 2,500-square-foot saltbox with a one-story shed on one of the gable ends. At the end of […]

Received wisdom has it that necessity is the mother of invention, but my best ideas seem to come from an idle mind, and are usually relevant to subjects I know little about. The WoodRat, mounted on the shop wall behind me in the photo at left, came from just such an idle thought: Although I […]

W hen I started working with wood half a century ago, the electric router saw only limited use in small shops. The machines were short on power and adjustments often proved difficult to make. And the bits! The high-speed steel bits dulled so quick­ly that you learned to sharpen them or made a cloud of […]